Love Both Lost and Found
by ArianeKeisha
Summary: Kakashi and Katsumi have always hated one another. But when she returns from a long ANBU mission, things have changed, and she's not quite sure how to deal with it. She's afraid, but at the same time she feels as though she can't let this chance slip away


**Chapter I: Of Thousands of Days **

The moon shone brilliantly over the grass covered hills and full trees, illuminating everything that happened to be near. A lone figure stood there, a haunting silhouette as the moon shone directly behind her, making her outline only the blackened hint of what was truly there. Her hair swayed in the breeze, trailing behind her as she began to make her way to the gates of Konoha.

She stumbled, her legs wobbling precariously as they struggled to carry her. Her hand clutched her side, desperately trying to hold onto one of the many wounds that littered her body. She arrived at the gates, and the two guards approached her.

"Miss? Are you alright?" asked the one, his head cocked slightly to the side as he tried to determine whether or not to hurry her to the hospital.

"Get... Tsunade-sama..." The duo looked at each other quickly, turning back to the woman just in time to watch her lose her balance and begin to pitch forward. One of the guards caught her and rushed to the hospital, blood already seeping into his clothes.

Coffee-colored eyes snapped open and swiftly checked the room for anyone else. When she found that she was alone, the woman quickly swung her legs off the hospital bed and stood, wobbly at first but quickly gaining strength. She rushed to the door and looked out, checking the hallway before running to her window. She struggled to pull it open, and she had it nearly there when a hand wrapped around her wrist and tugged her away from the window.

Hazel eyes looked into hers, and the woman grinned sheepishly. "I, um, needed some fresh air?"

"Katsumi, I thought we were past you running away from hospitals by now. You're twenty-two for Kami's sake!" Tsunade roared, pushing the other woman back onto the hospital bed.

"I can't help it! You can't do anything here unless you're a medic yourself! I get claustrophobic sitting in a hospital room all day."

"Then ask for a bigger room."

Katsumi growled under her breath. "But then I get bored! After so long I need to get outside and _do _something, Tsunade-sama! I can't do anything of the like in a hospital! Everyone here freaks out and forces me to get back in the bed!"

"Just sit down for a few more minutes. You can go as soon as I'm done talking to you." Tsunade sighed, letting the strangely hyper adult cheer before continuing. "What happened with the mission? You arrived at the gate and demanded to see me before collapsing."

Katsumi looked at her hands, twiddling with the tiny hospital gown. "Everything went alright for the first few stages, but then things started to get a bit fishy. We kept going to the places the undercover nin was sending us information about, but there was slowly dwindling leads from there. Eventually we found that there was no relevance between the mission and the locations we were being sent to.

"Captain was slowly beginning to have two of us rotate on watching the informant, but it was too late. When we arrived to start watching over him, all we could see was his dead body and blood splattered all over the walls. The enemy already had us surrounded, and we had to battle it out. Captain found the scroll we were hunting for in a defeated enemy's pocket. How he found it there, I have no idea.

"Next thing I knew, he had tossed it to me and was ordering for me to get back to Konoha, double time. I tried to stay and fight, but he yelled at me again, saying the scroll was more important than any of our lives... So here I am."

Tsunade sighed, rubbing her eyes wearily. "I thought something of the like might have happened. Write me your report and have it to me in a weeks' time at least. Go home, rest up." She pointed to a closet near the door and murmured, "Your clothes are in there."

Katsumi jumped up from the bed and dressed with a haste that was probably unmatched when compared to anyone trying to run away from a hospital. She tugged her arm through the vest and went to zip it up when she heard Tsunade calling her name. "Hai?"

"Do you want to remain in the ANBU or return to your normal jounin position?"

Katsumi looked at the floor, unsure herself as to what her answer would be. "I don't know as of yet, Tsunade-sama."

* * *

Tsunade stepped towards the young Kobayashi and placed her hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Take however long you want to decide. I want you off of missions for the next two weeks unless they're D-ranked anyhow. Once that's over, I either want your answer or you can go on solo jounin missions."

Katsumi turned to leave once more, only to be stopped again.

"Kobayashi Katsumi." The ebony-haired woman looked over her shoulder, wondering what reasoning was to be found in her being called by her full name all of a sudden. "You've overcome every other feat that has stared you down. I have the faith in you to know that you'll be perfectly fine after all of this and make the correct decision. Don't doubt yourself, Katsumi."

Tsunade grinned and Katsumi returned it. "I haven't and never will, Hokage-sama. Count on it!" She turned her head quickly, her hair flaring out behind her before disappearing around the doorway.

"Katsumi, I know I told you to take your time, but I need an answer," Tsunade began, staring at the adult opposite her.

"And I've made it." Tsunade blinked, unprepared for what had just been announced.

"And what have you decided?"

"I'll remain in the ANBU. Jounin missions are a little boring to me at the moment, so I'd prefer to choose the more challenging option." Katsumi smirked, her chocolate eyes twinkling with the hint of stubbornness. "Besides, I'll have the chance to resign at later opportunities, correct?"

"Yes, you will, but... Are you sure? You just returned from a five-year long mission. Don't you want a break for a while?"

"I've never been one to remain inactive for too long, you know that," Katsumi stated stoutly.

"Well... I'll start searching for a team, but there's no telling how long it'll be. Until then, no missions for you, Kobayashi," she growled, shuffling some papers that had been on her desk. "Got it?"

Katsumi's lips formed a thin line. "Hai, Tsunade-sama." She stood and swiftly stormed out of the office, her chakra terrifying anyone who came too close with its random flares.

She stalked to the only place she could think of that might safely let loose some of her energy. She slammed her fist into the nearest tree upon arrival, frowning when she heard the crunch it made without seeing any actual damage. "Kuso," she cursed, glaring at the tree before punching it once more.

This time a split in the tree's bark was actually visible. She grinned in victory before whipping around and sliding to the ground. Gathering her knees to her chest, Katsumi forced herself to forget the predicament she had forced herself into and rested her chin upon the tops of her knees.

"Seems like something's on your mind." She glanced up, not even moving her head in an effort to see who stood before her. "You didn't attack me on sight so something must have happened." He gestured near her, and she glared slightly before looking away from him.

Feeling his chakra precariously close to her, she jerked her head over to look at him, nearly crashing into his own head. "Why do you constantly torture me?"

"This isn't torture, Kat. You make it torture by yourself... I am merely trying to be friendly and look after an old friend. Is that so bad?"

"It wouldn't be if we had ever been friends, Hatake. Too bad that piece of information has long since ceased to even be possible in one's imagination," she spat. "I just want to be alone for a little while! Is that too much to ask for or something?"

"In this village, yes."

She narrowed her eyes, resisting the urge to glare at him. "That was rhetorical."

His eye crinkled, revealing what was probably a grin. "I know."

* * *

_I woke up a few days ago and had an idea for a story, and I just couldn't let it rest. XD The updates between will be far and many, so I am very sorry for that ahead of time. I'm going to try to work on the next two chapters before actually posting the second so that I can eventually get pretty far ahead of the updates and make them come even faster than usual._


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